Quinta Brunson to Star in New Betty Boop Film Reimagining

Betty Boop is making the jump from Broadway back to the big screen. Variety reports that the iconic cartoon character, which was recently musicalized by David Foster in Boop! The Musical, is receiving a new cinematic treatment from Quinta Brunson. 

The Emmy Award-winning Abbott Elementary creator is set to develop and star in a feature interpretation of the Jazz Age flapper. The project hails from a partnership between her company, Fifth Chance Productions, and Fleischer Studios, which produced the character in its original iteration in the 1930s.

Brunson is working with Mark Fleischer, the grandson of creator Max Fleischer, to bring the origin story of the character to life. The film itself will even be told from the creator’s perspective, “examining the relationship between the artist and his creation as he navigates the creative and commercial pressures of building one of the world’s first animated icons, particularly as that icon begins to take on a life of its own.” This new version is said to follow in the vein of Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie’s work with the 2023 Barbie movie.

“Betty Boop is one of our nation’s most beloved cartoon characters, yet somehow still remains pleasantly niche,” said Brunson in a statement. “She has had a quiet but undeniable impact on culture for nearly a century. After Erin [Wehrenberg] and I met with Mark and learned more about his grandfather’s creation of Betty, I realized there was a much deeper story to tell. One that could be explored in a way that feels refreshing, subversive, and timeless, much like Betty herself.”

This will mark Betty Boop’s first major appearance in a theatrical release since the late 1930s, where she starred in more than 100 cartoons across Fleischer series’ like Talkartoons, Screen Songs, and Color Classics. One of the most famous cartoon characters of all time, Betty has appeared in a variety of pop culture media in the decades since her debut, even being parodied by Broadway’s Bernadette Peters in a 1981 episode of Saturday Night Live. She later made a cameo in 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, where she was depicted as an out-of-date relic from a bygone era. 

Jasmine Amy Rogers originated the titular role in BOOP! The Musical, which earned her a Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, and additional nominations for Drama League and Chita Rivera Awards. 

The musical, which played the Broadhurst Theatre for three months in 2025,  was directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell and featured music from David Foster, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, and a book by Bob Martin. It was nominated for 3 total Tonys, including Best Choreography and Best Costume Design.

The original cast also included Tony Award-winner Faith Prince as Valentina, Ainsley Melham as Dwayne, Erich Bergen as Raymond, Stephen DeRosa as Grampy, Anastacia McCleskey as Carol, Angelica Hale as Trisha, Phillip Huber as Pudgy the Dog, and Aubie Merrylees as Oscar. 

Photo Credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Prime Video/Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman